3/20/2008

Don't put off 'til tomorrow...

Yesterday morning Max awoke with a red pull-up and lots of fairly large 1cm blood clots in his morning pee. (He is having no pain… breath in, breath out.) We gave Max 300ml water as soon as we got downstairs. His next pee was still red with only one clot. We immediately emailed Dr. Roberts who set Max up to come right in and have an ultrasound taken. AHHH – everybody to the car! We have to make it to radiology by 9:00am!!

So there we are at the hospital. Max had a 9:00am ultrasound of his kidneys and bladder, then came to clinic to have his CBCs checked and have the doctor decide what to do about his pee. He had to provide another urine sample and by this time his pee was plain ol’ yellow! (It’s interesting that with some good hydration his urine clears up.) Dr. Schiff - another wonderful oncologist - ordered a BK test on his urine that will tell us if he has a certain type of viral infection that occurs in the bladder. It takes about one week to get results. A positive result will require a special IV antibiotic. Max also has an appointment with the urology department on April 1 to review the ultrasounds and all the urine tests he’s had done recently. Due to Max not being in any pain when he pee’s, and his urine clearing when he’s well hydrated, this “blood in the urine” deal is not an emergency… and hopefully we stay in code yellow.

Max’s HGB was also low (7.6) so he got to stay for a blood transfusion! Time to pink up those cheeks and fuel up for the weekend.

Max and I were at the hospital from 8:50 ‘til 5:00. Believe it or not the time went by quickly as Max was shuffled from the radiology department to clinic, to the exam room, back to clinic… oh, back to radiology again, and his final stop: clinic! Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today!

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comments:

Hadn't been able to read Max's journal in a while. Caught up today and I'm so sorry to hear that Max is going through some tough times right now. My thoughts and prayers are with you all and I hope that Max is back to himself soon! Just know I'm here for you guys if you need any more photos for anything. Max is one precious little guy and I'd love to see him again.Many hugs,Deb

Although I knew Max had gotten red blood cells, his pink little cheeks actually alarmed me a bit. "Max, are you hot? Let me feel your forehead..." But those were some pretty good HGB cells...super stamina at PE yesterday! It was great to see him running around, feeling good, having fun with his friends. That's what it's all about! xolisa